Why this father-son duo get their nails done together
After De'Brence McClain became a father, he said he knew he wanted to be present in his son's life.
"I grew up just not having my father in my life like 100% of the time, so I just wanted to be a part of my son's life," the 30-year-old dad told "Good Morning America." "I just felt like it's something that I could do."
Today, McClain, who runs the @youngblackdad Instagram account, said he and his 4-year-old son Boris "do everything" together, from everyday tasks like grocery shopping to activities like shopping for flowers or going for regular nail salon visits.
"[People on social media] are enjoying the fact that we do do a lot of different things outside of the norm of just being a father and son," McClain said. "Some things are just probably normal to people and then some things are like, 'Oh, wait, I never thought to do that. Maybe I should do that with my child now, whether [they're] a boy or girl.'"
McClain said he and his son both enjoy getting their nails done and said he hopes to break the stereotype that it's an activity only certain people can do.
"I feel like everyone deserves to be pampered. Everyone deserves to have a luxury experience," McClain said.
He said he hopes to show Boris that there can also be more than one reason someone may want to get a manicure, pedicure or more, whether it's an act of hygiene, self-love or even safety.
"A lot of men probably don't know that they have to do certain things to keep up their hygiene, so I just want to introduce him to that stuff, just to make sure that he [knows] before he goes out there into the real world," he said.
"We are fighters too -- we do jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai and boxing -- so I want him to make sure that he knows to clip those nails, because [otherwise], that's dangerous for the other athletes," he added.
At the end of the day, McClain said he hopes to teach his son as much as he can and set him up for a healthy future.
"I'm like, hey, we do everything. Since we do everything, let's do everything together. And so, all those first experiences he gets, he can know like, 'OK, this is how I want to take care of myself. This is how I want to appreciate my life,'" he said.
It doesn't hurt that young Boris is a fan of the nail salon too.
"He sees it as a positive thing," McClain said. "He felt comfortable, he felt good. The people there embraced him."
